Grandma Fan, however, recalled a passage spoken by the old Daoist master during his lessons: Evil power can drive inanimate objects, unafraid of restraining talismans. What the mind intends, it can speak; what the mind possesses, it can execute. A masked cry startles the livestock at night; an open laugh unsettles both humans and beasts. Malice is hard to quell, and ruthlessness leaves no escape. Such an entity is truly a malevolent spirit. One whose state of mind is clear without achieving the Core Formation realm should retreat far from it.

“It can laugh… this, this is a malevolent spirit…” Grandma Fan trembled, “Retreat! Quickly, retreat!”

At this moment, several shadowy figures in the arena shrieked and scattered in all directions. The young wife let out a piercing cry, and suddenly, a fierce gale whipped up from the small depression in the hill, a large cloud obscuring the moon overhead. Several black phantoms seemed seized by unseen hands, drawn directly toward the young wife. After a few screams, they dissolved into wisps of black smoke.

Seeing such might, Young Master Liu’s face had long turned ashen, while Ma Sandao had once again thoroughly wet his trousers… “Hmph! Six Jia and Six Ding obey my command, borrow my spirit from the Seventh of Meishan…” Grandma Fan stamped out the Twenty-Eight Mansions Gang Step, bit her index finger, and inscribed a Ghost-Exorcising Seal on a branch she had picked up. Her stance set, she formed a hand seal with her left hand and thrust the branch directly at the malevolent spirit with her right.

“You fiends, depart swiftly!” Young Master Liu watched clearly as the seal on Grandma Fan’s branch suddenly ignited with a red flame that shot out three feet. The malevolent spirit recoiled in alarm, spewing a breath of black air, and its donkey reared backward incessantly.

The young wife let out a resentful screech: “Damned old hag, didn’t you send word tonight saying you’d take me in?”

Grandma Fan was filled with regret; it would have been fine to deal with a mere demonic fetus, but provoking this sort of entity was an error. Young Master Liu cursed inwardly, cursing the old woman for boasting when she lacked the skill, bringing out the main perpetrator—now people would die! They heard a continuous chatter, and the young wife staggered back a few steps, the green-blue aura around her face intensifying dramatically.

Grandma Fan quickly said, “Esteemed… cough, what nonsense is this? I fear there’s been a misunderstanding. I merely sent him to burn some paper money for you. See the trouble this misunderstanding has caused…”

The young wife scoffed, “Now you say it’s a mistake? I think it’s too late!” With that, the green aura on her face vanished, and suddenly several arms extended from behind her, all a sickly blue-purple, some long, some short. They lunged straight for Grandma Fan. With several hissing sounds, the arms were hacked off, instantly turning into ashes under the crimson flames of Grandma Fan’s branch. However, the flame slowly dimmed. The young wife flicked her hair, and it grew instantly in the wind, sweeping toward Grandma Fan like black water weeds across the expanse.

Grandma Fan was quick-witted, leaping to the left to dodge the sweeping hair, but several strands grazed her arm, drawing blood instantly. Grandma Fan, who had begun to feel inclined to beg for mercy, was enraged by this sight: “You wicked spirit, how many people have you dragged down over the years, how many lives have you ruined? To use the limbs of others for such deeds—are you not afraid of heavenly retribution? I, Fan Xidou, even if I cannot defeat you today, I will fight with my old life to subdue you!” It turned out those arms belonged to the people the young wife had slain recently; their remains were incomplete, and their souls found it near impossible to pass on, likely drifting everywhere and gradually dissipating. For the deceased, this was an agonizing state.

The young wife sneered, “I’ve only been dead for a little over a month. How could it be several years?”

“A little over a month!” Grandma Fan’s pupils contracted, her hunched old frame visibly trembling. Damn it, this was too bizarre! In just one month, this thing had killed so many people? Thinking of this, Grandma Fan’s eyes sharpened, and she asked with flagging energy, “Who exactly are you?”

“Heh heh, see who I am!” The young wife smeared her hand across that pale, flat face, instantly revealing her facial features. Grandma Fan’s aged eyes were hazy and she couldn't make sense of it for a moment. Young Master Liu, however, cried out, “A’Lan! It’s A’Lan! My heavens!”

“That girl from the Old Mud-Mason’s family?” Grandma Fan asked.

“It’s her! I watched clearly when the village chief burned her that day, and I even saw her eating chicken and duck entrails! Bloody…” Young Master Liu rushed to explain.

“Nonsense, utter nonsense!” Grandma Fan slapped her thigh in agitation.

The young wife spoke again, “When I died, no one cared for me; they even insulted my body repeatedly and set me on fire. Why should I care about others? Do you know how much pain I was in?” With that, her body lifted into the air, her surrounding hair flying wildly, extending and retracting like snake tongues, her eyes blazing with fierce light. Young Master Liu saw that A’Lan’s face was entirely covered in scorch marks from the fire, a blackened mess, just like ribs deep-roasted over charcoal. No wonder she had smeared on so much powder—it was to hide the scars. “I died unjustly with no one to inquire after me, buried haphazardly, and who came to save me? My corpse absorbed Yang energy and gained malevolent Qi, transforming into a spirit. But I didn’t wish to harm anyone, only eliminating that old bastard Chen Quezi. The rest of the time I subsisted on animals. But you lot, you actually brought a great fire to burn me, scattering my corpse-soul into two parts, now lingering around this reservoir, and who is there to manage me?”

Grandma Fan saw that her voice was growing louder, knowing this outbreak would be difficult to handle. She quickly urged, “Liu family’s elder boy, quickly, quickly!”

Young Master Liu was already scared out of his wits. Hearing Grandma Fan’s shout, he cried out anxiously, “Quick, quick, quick what? We’re about to die! Woe is me, my life! My wife whom I haven’t even met!” Seeing him wailing funerary dirges at this crucial moment, Grandma Fan was furious enough to want to kill him: “Did you forget everything I told you just now?” The urgency made crude language slip out.

A’Lan floated in the air, a squeaking sound coming from her body. Her face was deathly pale, and her large belly began to swell and contract, a sharp infant’s cry echoing from within her stomach. Young Master Liu was so terrified his wooden sword trembled like a young girl holding a hairpin. “Damn it, she even brought a bastard along! Not long ago I almost got bitten to death by that possessed old woman when I was with Old Immortal Wang. Now, when things get serious, I run into this thing again? That’s no way to play! Grandma Fan, are you two counting broomsticks? How can our luck be this bad?”

Ma Sandao wasn’t giving Grandma Fan any peace either. He was hugging his head, prone on the ground, weeping so loudly the heavens could hear: “I… I want to go back, I want to go home, I want to go home to see my wife, see my wife…” Grandma Fan’s three spirits were ready to revolt: “If you keep crying, you’ll really never get home, lying there dead!” Facing these two clowns tonight, she had probably exhausted every vulgar word in her lifetime.

Just as Grandma Fan was sputtering with rage, a faint red light flickered in A’Lan’s eyes. Her body remained suspended in the air, but all her hair shot toward Grandma Fan with incredible speed. Grandma Fan was greatly alarmed and swung the branch to block, but with a crack, the branch snapped in two. A’Lan was jolted backward onto the donkey, spitting out a mouthful of foul black blood. Grandma Fan felt a suffocating tightness in her chest. Just as she prepared to catch her breath, she saw A’Lan’s pair of pale hands right before her.

Grandma Fan knew things were bad. She quickly formed a Demon-Repelling Seal with both hands and held them up to block. She felt agonizing pain in both hands as A’Lan’s hands gripped hers, a colossal force surging toward her. The Demon-Repelling Seal Grandma Fan was forming was pushed right against her own neck. They heard the crunching sound of A’Lan’s finger joints grinding together, a sound that set the teeth on edge. In moments, A’Lan’s cold, blue-black claws had extended and clamped around Grandma Fan’s neck.

Grandma Fan’s face immediately darkened, unable to draw a breath. The discomfort brought tears streaming down like rain, but there was a look of joy on her face: “Liu family’s boy… quickly, this is a good… opportunity… strike now…” A’Lan was greatly shocked and looked over at Young Master Liu, only to find him still prone on the ground, weeping like a cowardly dead dog. She was about to pull her hands away but tightened her grip on Grandma Fan’s neck instead.

“Ouch… blast it all… Liu Da Shao’s… ouch, this time I’m… ruined by you… you coward!” Grandma Fan’s heart chilled, and tears finally fell.

As the standoff reached a stalemate, A’Lan’s belly suddenly ripped open, and a stream of black fluid surged out. Grandma Fan felt her neck tighten. She looked down and saw a small, shapeless, black mass resembling an infant crawling out of A’Lan’s abdomen. It turned out the little ghost sensed its mother in peril and emerged on its own.

“The child-fiend is out!” Veins bulged on Grandma Fan’s forehead. “Shh, little one… don’t come out… go back, go… go in, be good, alright…” The black mass paused upon hearing this, and Grandma Fan was momentarily pleased at how adept she was at coaxing small children. Then, the mass suddenly opened a huge mouth, revealing rows of gleaming white, pointed teeth.

The mass opened its mouth and slowly, unhesitatingly, lunged to bite Grandma Fan. Grandma Fan knew she was likely done for today. Unwilling in death, she mustered her last bit of strength to curse: “Liu Da Shao, you scoundrel, little bastard, even as a ghost… I will… curse you!”

“Grandma Fan, you’re about to die, just curse a little less. I’ll burn some paper money for you, that’s all,” came a voice from behind. Young Master Liu suddenly interjected. Grandma Fan hadn’t quite processed it. When A’Lan first appeared, Young Master Liu had been scared witless. Seeing his cowardice, A’Lan hadn’t taken him seriously at all.

Now, hearing him speak from behind her, though his voice trembled slightly, it was much stronger than his previous whimpering. A sudden ominous premonition struck her. She whipped her head around to see Young Master Liu holding a lit tinder stick in his left hand and a sheet of yellow paper clearly mixed with saltpeter in his right. Though he shook like a banana tree in a downpour, he stood firm beside her donkey.

“Ah… how dare you!” A’Lan shrieked, turning to lunge at Young Master Liu. But her hands were held fast; Grandma Fan snatched her grip, spitting a mouthful of blood onto A’Lan’s face: “Azure Dragon soars to the Eight Extremes, White Tiger howls in the mountains and forests, Vermilion Bird echoes with the blue thunder, Black Tortoise commands the myriad spirits! Four Symbols Star Lords, swiftly stand to my left and right!” That mouthful of blood was from Grandma Fan biting her tongue until it bled; she had bitten so hard she’d dislocated her tongue, causing her incantation to slur slightly.

Over there, Young Master Liu thrust the yellow paper onto the donkey. Because A’Lan had left its body, the donkey was stripped of its evil power and was now just an immobile paper animal. The yellow paper contained saltpeter, and when ignited, the donkey instantly burst into a fireball. The flames soared skyward, and a foul stench assaulted their noses. Wisps of green light erupted from the fireball, scattering in all directions.

Grandma Fan said resentfully, “I never thought you evil ghost would store the souls of those you killed inside this donkey for you to command. What a pitiful person, but doubly detestable when doing evil!” The area where Grandma Fan’s blood touched A’Lan’s face began to smoke and rot: “Ah… ah… dead hag… dead hag… I will eat you alive…” A’Lan struggled violently with her hands held, yet could not break free.

With the overall situation decided, Grandma Fan began the post-mortem reckoning: “You scoundrel, didn’t I tell you earlier, if she truly showed up, once I engaged her, you were to burn the donkey? What the hell were you doing? If you were any later, the three of us would be lying here dead tonight! Tomorrow, we’d be waiting for someone to collect our corpses!”

Young Master Liu cried out, aggrieved, “Grandma Fan, this is your fault! Your tinder stick wasn’t in that container, and Old Man Ma couldn’t light a fire either. I was fumbling on the ground for ages, just trying to find it!” Grandma Fan pulled out a Soul-Purifying Talisman and slapped it onto A’Lan’s face. With a poof, A’Lan went limp on the ground, and a smoke cloud of green and black rushed upward.

Grandma Fan nursed her numb tongue, which smarted from the bite: “Where did that tinder stick fall?”

Young Master Liu was so vexed he could spit: “You dropped it when those ghosts scared you earlier, and it was dark, forcing me to act like a coward and feel around on the ground. It took me ages to find it… and I even felt the tip of your broken sword lying there on the ground…” Saying this, he raised his right hand, which was covered in blood.

At this point, A’Lan on the ground thrashed about, waves of black smoke rising from her body. Only her eyes remained on her rotting face, staring blankly at the two of them: “Ma, Ma, I could have killed you last night. You gave me a single apricot, and I spared you. Now you’ve teamed up with this old woman to harm me… to harm this unfortunate soul…” Her voice was so tragic that Ma Sandao felt a pang of pity and quickly said, “The wronged have their perpetrator, the debt has its collector—this was all Grandma Fan’s idea.” Hearing this, Grandma Fan was furious: “You, Ma Sandao, is that how you live?”

But then Ma Sandao continued, “You suffered in life, and you know the hardships of the unfortunate, yet you dragged so many others to death. Isn’t that wrong? Having suffered and been wronged yourself, you should be even more determined to stop others from suffering. Look at you, you should have sought reincarnation instead of haunting and harming people. Now look at the suffering you endure!”

Grandma Fan secretly nodded at Ma Sandao’s words. Having suffered herself should be all the more reason not to cause others to suffer. This truth, though simple, was understood only by those who truly knew the profound difficulty of it. Hearing these words, A’Lan suddenly fell silent. They only heard the sizzling sound of her body burning, but no more shrieks… Ma Sandao still felt a twinge of compassion and asked, “How long does this fire need to burn? Standing here talking while she burns and roasts… I feel rather awkward about it.”

Grandma Fan said, “You feel pity now? You should remember that if our luck had been worse tonight, the ones crying and howling now would be the three of us, especially you two—howling loud enough to shake the heavens!”

Young Master Liu immediately became indignant: “Grandma Fan, I’m not trying to criticize you, but you said you were prepared, you had a plan, but as soon as the main antagonist showed up, everything went wrong!”

Grandma Fan looked a little embarrassed: “Heh heh, since I started my apprenticeship, I’ve only encountered weak opponents. This is the first time I’ve met someone this fierce… preparation beforehand just didn’t account for it!”

Ma Sandao asked again, “Then what were you muttering earlier? Invoking spirits?”

Grandma Fan smiled, “I can’t invoke deities.”

Young Master Liu was puzzled: “Weren’t you just chanting the Seventh Lord of Meishan? Weren’t you invoking a spirit?”

Grandma Fan smiled and said, “I chant the names of deities, but I’m only borrowing a spark of their vital energy and spirit. Who has ever truly managed to summon a celestial being? Immortals and mortals are worlds apart!”

She paused: “The old Daoist master told me that many deities in Daoism were once mortals. Like Guan Gong, the Sacred Emperor Guan; when traveling at night, one quietly recites Guan Di’s sacred name and receives a measure of his righteous energy, making one immune to a hundred evils. When Daoists perform rites or administer medicine, we quietly recite the Medicine King Bodhisattva, learning from his compassion for all suffering. To invoke a spirit, to invoke a spirit, is to invoke the spirit within oneself. If you see someone claiming to have a deity possessing them, they are surely tricking you; don’t believe it.”

Hearing this, Young Master Liu suddenly understood, and his respect for this old woman increased. He suddenly asked, “If I quietly recite the name of the God of Wealth while playing cards, will I gain his great fortune and prosperity?” Grandma Fan had not anticipated such a question. After a moment’s thought, she actually gave a reasoned answer: “A gambler’s desire for wealth stems from an impure heart. If one’s own heart is not upright, how can one seek divine assistance? Only with a righteous heart can one receive help from the spirits.”

Ma Sandao sighed, patted Young Master Liu’s shoulder: “Grandma Fan speaks great sense, kid, stop having crooked ideas… Oh, right, we’ve been at this all night. What about my wife?” Thinking of his wife, Ma Sandao grew anxious: “What about that fetus-snatching ghost? We didn’t see it… Grandma Fan…”

The three were chatting happily about matters far afield, forgetting that a ghost was still burning beside them. They heard A’Lan, who was already turning into a pile of black ash, say, “Grandma Fan, thank you for coming to subdue me.” Her voice was much more peaceful. Grandma Fan made a bow: “Have you understood?” A’Lan replied, “After being burned by your talisman, my original resentment is probably gone. I… I grieve for the child in my womb, who has suffered so much before even being born.”

A’Lan choked back a sob: “This fire has burned away my malevolence, and only now do I realize the wrong in what I did. Now I have one question for you, Granny: is there truly reincarnation after death? Why has no one come to summon me for reincarnation? If I enter the cycle, what will I be in the next life?” Grandma Fan said solemnly, “Heaven and Earth have reincarnation; it is not summoned by others, but entered into naturally. You held onto resentment, dwelled in murky lands, gathering (yin and evil essence). You refused to let go and move on. How then can you ask about the existence or nature of reincarnation?”

Hearing Grandma Fan’s words, A’Lan’s heart suddenly cleared. Her body, which had been like black ash, suddenly became completely translucent, possessing form yet no substance. “Granny, I am not as you say. I encountered that educated youth from the engineering team in the village. He insulted me and then killed me. That person is already dead, and his vengeful spirit lingers, still causing harm. If he truly takes the fetus, I beg Granny to help so that others are not harmed.”

Grandma Fan said, “I naturally know. If you truly repent, can you help me with one thing?”

At this moment, a faint light appeared on the horizon, and A’Lan’s shadow grew even more transparent, seemingly on the verge of dissipating. Grandma Fan took out a piece of jade: “If you are willing to enter this jade, both you and your unborn child will benefit greatly. But this time, to subdue that demonic fetus, I will still need your help!”